HP's Hurd appoints old mate to ethics officer

HP ethics boss...irony-free zone

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HP has appointed a new chief ethics officer to replace Kevin Hunsaker whose role in overseeing the morality and legality of snooping on board members ended with his resignation to face criminal charges.

Jon Hoak started as HP's vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer from 11 October. He will be responsible for: "HP's adherence to its Standards of Business Conduct and report to the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Mark Hurd, until a general counsel is named."

Hoak has worked at Hurd's old company NCR since 1993. Hurd has managed to avoid taking any responsibilty or blame for the snooping scandal at HP. And if he keeps appointing his mates to key postions, that should continue.

Among Hoak's duties, the press release tells us, is to work with Bart Schwartz "to perform an independent assessment of current investigative practices and develop future best practices".

A spokeswoman for the ink and phone tapping specialist told Reuters that the fact Hurd and Hoak "had worked together for more than 10 years greatly shortened the hiring process."

Just to reinforce the point. HP is really telling people that the fact Hurd and Hoak "had worked together for more than 10 years greatly shortened the hiring process."